Meade, Elaine, Garvey, Mary · International journal of molecular sciences · 2022 · DOI
This review article examines how the nervous and immune systems interact to cause chronic pain and fatigue in conditions like ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, and IBS. The authors explain that childhood trauma and ongoing stress can permanently change how the body's stress response system works, leading to long-term symptoms. They discuss how these systems become dysregulated and contribute to the wide range of symptoms people with these conditions experience.
This review addresses a critical gap in understanding ME/CFS pathophysiology by integrating neuro-immune mechanisms with established risk factors like trauma. For patients, it provides biological explanations for why symptoms are real and not purely psychological. For researchers, it frames a coherent mechanistic model linking early life stress to adult neuroimmune dysfunction, potentially guiding future therapeutic targets.
This is a literature review, not an original study with new data, so it does not provide direct evidence of these mechanisms in ME/CFS patients specifically. It does not prove causation—only associations between trauma, stress, and dysregulation are established. The review does not definitively establish which neuro-immune pathways are primary drivers versus secondary consequences in ME/CFS.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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Primary citation
Meade, Elaine & Garvey, Mary (2022). The Role of Neuro-Immune Interaction in Chronic Pain Conditions; Functional Somatic Syndrome, Neurogenic Inflammation, and Peripheral Neuropathy.. International journal of molecular sciences. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23158574
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-meade-2022-role-neuro,
author = {Meade, Elaine and Garvey, Mary},
title = {The Role of Neuro-Immune Interaction in Chronic Pain Conditions; Functional Somatic Syndrome, Neurogenic Inflammation, and Peripheral Neuropathy.},
journal = {International journal of molecular sciences},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.3390/ijms23158574},
note = {PubMed: 35955708},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/meade-2022-role-neuro},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/meade-2022-role-neuro
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